Wright started her career as a model, when she was 14.[4] She first became popular for playing Kelly Capwell on the NBC television soap opera Santa Barbara at age 18, which earned her several Daytime Emmy Award nominations.[5]

In 1996 she starred in the film adaptation of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders (1996), for which she received a Satellite Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama. She went on to co-star with her then-husband in the film She's So Lovely (1997), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Wright received her third Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her role in the television film Empire Falls (2005).

Since 2013, Wright has portrayed Claire Underwood, political mastermind Frank Underwood's equally ruthless wife, in the Netflix series House of Cards. On January 12, 2014, she won a Golden Globe for the role, becoming the first actress to win the award for an online-only web television series;[6] she was nominated for the same award the following year. She received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award in 2013 and 2014 for the same role. Following season 4 in 2016, Wright stated that she felt Claire Underwood was the equal of Frank Underwood and demanded equal pay for her performance. Netflix acquiesced.[7]

After breaking up and getting back together,[11] Wright and Penn married in 1996, and Wright changed her name to Robin Wright Penn.[12] Their on-and-off relationship seemingly ended in divorce plans, announced in December 2007,[12] but the divorce petition was withdrawn upon the couple's request four months later.[13] In February 2009, Wright and Penn attended the 81st Academy Awards together, at which Penn won Best Actor. Penn subsequently filed for legal separation in April 2009,[14] but withdrew the petition in May.[15] On August 12, 2009, Wright filed for divorce once more,[16] declaring she had no plans to reconcile.[17] She also dropped "Penn" from her professional name.[18] The divorce was finalized on July 22, 2010.[19]

In February 2012, Wright began dating actor Ben Foster.[20] Their engagement was announced in January 2014.[21][22] The couple split and called off their engagement in November 2014,[23] but reunited as a couple in January 2015.[24] However, on August 29, 2015, they announced they were ending their second engagement.[25]

She is the Honorary Spokesperson for the Dallas, Texas-based non-profit The Gordie Foundation.[26] Wright has also been an advocate for the Enough Project.

In 2014, she co-partnered with two California based companies; Pour Les Femmes[27] and The SunnyLion.[28] The SunnyLion donates a portion of its profits back to the Raise Hope For Congo Movement.

Wright continues her activism for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is narrator and executive producer of the documentary When Elephants Fight.[29] This film highlights how the complicity of multinational mining corporations and corrupt politicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo threatens human rights and perpetuates the most deadly conflict since World War II.[30] Wright is an ardent supporter of the human rights campaign behind this film, Stand With Congo (#StandWithCongo).[31] She spoke publicly in support of this campaign in 2016 at a film screening at the TriBeCa Film Center in New York City,[32] in media interviews,[33][34][35][36] with journalists,[37][38][39] and across her social media accounts.[40][41][42]